The purpose of this application is to request NIH sponsorship of the September 2006 conference of the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation. The conference theme is Breast Milk: Physiology, Biochemistry and Outcomes and will be held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. We anticipate about 240 delegates from the U.S. and around the world. This conference is inherently interdisciplinary, and is the only meeting of its kind in which academic, industry, and public health scientists engaged in human milk research meet to exchange research ideas, share advancements in the field, and plan new research endeavors in a constructive, scientifically focused environment. Sponsorship is required for several purposes but especially to assist with travel costs for the invited faculty and to enable us to offer travel funds for young investigators and for delegates from less affluent countries, especially in Africa and Asia. The objectives of this conference are to: 1) Provide a forum in which basic scientists, clinicians, epidemiologists and policy makers can exchange the latest findings and research methods pertaining to human milk and lactation; 2) Review state-of-the-art data regarding the short and long-term effects of breastfeeding on infant and maternal health; 3) Discuss expression of endogenous and exogenous factors in human milk, including nutrients, immunologic factors, toxins, drugs, and other factors and the genetic regulation of such expression In September 2006, the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation (ISRHML) will host an interdisciplinary research conference, entitled, "Breast milk: Physiology, Biochemistry and Outcomes." The conference will address various biochemical and physiological aspects of human milk and how human milk constituents may affect infant health outcomes, including growth, bone mineralization, intestinal development, cognitive development, and immunity. The scientific content of the conference spans a variety of topics, including the epigenetic effects of early postnatal nutrition, the effect of human milk components on immune function and development, and toxic components in human milk and gene expression in the neonatal intestine. Our speakers are some of the most internationally recognized scientists in the field. As with all previous ISRHML conferences, we will produce a book following this biannual meeting. Most recently Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, have published the proceedings as part of the Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology series. A list of these publications is found on our society's website (www.isrhml.org.umu.se). [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]